Star players should shut up & play. He is a great coach!

They'll panda to Howards demands and then he'll still leave when he doesn't get a championship like every Star player Orlando has ever had.

Ewing can apply for the coaches job if he doesn't get the Bobcats gig.

Dumb move, but I'm sure their answer is "Fans don't pay to watch the coach". Problem with that is that fans don't come to watch a team that's always losing either.

As Mystro said, expect the Magic to under-achieve and Howard to leave. Bet ya he'll blame everyone else but himself if they bomb.

While I think firing SVG was a bad move, I actually don't mind that they've fired Smith. The problem with Orlando for the past 2 seasons has been personnel - they've had no real backup at the 5 for Howard (trading Gortat was a stupid move), their trades have been downright horrible (yeah Lewis had a massive contract, but Gilbert Arenas?!?), and aside from Howard their roster is mostly made up of older guys / journeymen.

I've never liked how they've been such a "live by the three" team when you have such a defensive stalwart in Howard. Pair him with a decent PF like LA do and you have the makings of an awesome defensive team. I always thought they'd do better with a pass first PG and a spot up shooter.

When you're getting paid a fortune to play 3-4 games of Basketball a week and nothing else, you need to shut the hell up and play.

Getting rid of a GM is nothing special, considering anyone with business sense can fill the role; besides he made the decisions to pull those stupid Rashard Lewis and Gilbert Arenas trades.

SVG was a bloody good coach and considering the winning record, I think it was a dumb decision. Knicks need to look at SVG pronto. Stop screwing around with the idea that Phil Jackson will coach again.

otis smith leaving is the best thing that could possibly happen to the orlando magic that bloke was a straight up kook

All things considered Orlando did fairly well this year. They still made the finals and I dare say that if Howard hadn't got hurt then they would have had a bloody good shot a playing for the trophy.

The bottom line here though is that the Magick isn't selling enough Van Gundy singlets to warrant them keeping him over Dwight, who on the other hand has provided the franchise with a pretty good bottom line and world wide fan base.

I think Howard is already checking out LA. Can see Bynum and change coming to the Bible Belt while Dwight play Robin to Kobe in the hope of reloading the Lakers.

Orlando has had some decent players over the years and no Championships. Penny Hardaway, Shaq, McGrady, Vince Carter (to a lesser degree as he was old when he went there), Howard etc
If Howard leaves, they will get another and still prob not win a championship.

Mystro

Don't forget Grant Hill to that list even though he was injured for the majority of it.

Coach gone and Howard apparently still wants out:

When the news first broke Monday that Van Gundy had been fired and Smith had agreed to leave, the knee-jerk reaction was to assume that Howard had won the power struggle, and the Magic would now empower him to have a say in who the new hires would be — provided he agreed to sign a contract extension and commit to the Magic for the long term.

But in fact, the source said, Howard wants out of Orlando more than he ever did before in order to start a new chapter of his career. And it is well-known throughout the league that the Magic do not want to endure another soap opera season like the one they just experienced.

Yeah I heard since the sackings that Dwight still wanted out too. Glad someone else discovered the same thing.